HELENA — Authorities have identified the Montana officer and the man he fatally shot.
The Independent Record reports officials announced Monday that Lewis and Clark County Deputy Andrew Blythe shot and killed Taylor Schnortz of Townsend just before midnight Thursday near East Helena.
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton says the sheriff’s office responded to a home after being asked to check on a man who was cutting himself. The person who called 911 said the man was bleeding from self-inflicted injuries and was suicidal.
Dutton says deputies verbally negotiated with the suspect for about an hour, but the man forced the deputy to shoot. The suspect did not fire his weapon and no law enforcement officers were injured.
Blythe is on administrative leave, which is protocol after an officer-involved shooting.